Homefront
by KrimzonGuard Bites BaronP
Summary: Just when she thought she'd fought the final battle, just when she thought it was the end, she's saved by a most suprising ally. KatxFem!6 T for blood/Language -Temporary Hiatus due to minor rewrite.


_I enjoy writing Kat, and there's not enough femme!6xKat out there. I'm always more than happy to oblige._

_Yes, I'm currently working on chapter 2 to MEHalo:evolution, so that'll be up soon-ish. Hopefully it'll answer some of your skepticism regarding Liara's placement on the normandy despite her role as Shadow Broker._

_Another take on the popular theme of Kat's possible survival. Im going to go out on a limb here and call it a 'friggen miracle'. I don't feel like muddying up a fic with technicalities._

_That said, Enjoy. RnR. :) More chapters to come._

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_"Your first glassing?"_

_I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat as I attempted to will my heart to slow down._

_"Mine too." She said. I saw the distant look of defeat in her eyes. I nearly stumbled as the elevator lurched into action. Then she said something else, about a fallout bunker I think. Exhaustion was making it difficult to focus._

_I felt the elevator slow to a crawl. My HUD was flashing- shield depleted from the radiation. I felt vulnerable, following Kat as the doors opened. We chased after Carter and the others. I heard a low hum overhead, almost like engines._

_Then it happened._

_I didn't want to believe it._

_I caught her body as it fell, sliding her Magnum from its magnetic holster along her thigh-plate. I took aim and fired. I saw the killer's shield flash but I failed to deal any kind of killing blow._

_Instinctively i motioned to toss the firearm aside, but in that instant I holstered it instead. The rest of Noble was shouting at me, and I began dragging Kat's body toward the slowly closing bunker helped me in._

_"Hurry up! Close the doors!" Shouted a civilian, the doors locking seconds afterwards._

_I felt each explosion in my chest. My stomach was doing flips and my heart threatened to implode. Kat was dead._

_I think Carter was shaking my shoulder, shouting my name as I cradled my comrade's body. I thought about everything she'd said to me._

_"Don't fall in love with my voice." She had said to me just hours before over the com. But it was too late for that. I hadn't fallen in love with her voice- I had fallen in love with everything about her._

_And now she was dead. _

_It was hard enough losing Jorge. He was like a big brother I never had._

_I don't know how long I sat against the wall, keeping her close. My team fought to bring me out of my stupor but I felt cold- Ice flowed through my veins._

_I felt like a lone wolf once more- true to my nickname, I felt empty. I had lost my mate, and never again would I direct my affection towards another._

_I honestly feel that if I wasn't a Spartan, I wouldn't have carried on._

_Finally it was quiet outside. The world stopped shaking and we couldn't hear the roar of combat overhead. Somehow I had fallen asleep through it all, and Carter was shaking me awake. He tapped on the side of my visor and slowly my vision clarified. I felt weak._

_He took her body from me. I could tell by the way he looked at her- they had been in love long before I came along. I didn't want to let go but my arms refused to resist. Jun offered a hand to help me off the ground, I accepted. Then we began making our way outside, followed by another dozen civilians._

_A pelican approached as Jun lit a flare, but I cast one last glance at Kat who laid lifeless in Carters arms. We boarded the craft as it landed. Into the morning we flew, off toward refuge._

_There would be no funeral, No 21 gun salute for a fallen soldier. She, like many others, was simply set aside amidst the hundreds of other casualties that lined the halls of the tiny outpost. I wanted to vomit as I watched them zip up the body bag. Carter let her tags slip from his fingers, opening my palm before setting them in and closing my fist around them. I held them tight._

_The dog tags and her Magnum were all I had left of her. I hung the tags around my neck, next to my own and Jorge's._

_We left her in that way-station, a tiny base on a tiny island that was a mid-point between New Alexandria and Sword Base that acted as our resupply stop. With enough Magnum and AR rounds to turn an OSDT into swiss cheese, I joined the rest of Noble for our approach on Sword._

"C'mon fuckers, come and get me!" Six barked into the wind. Her motion tracker pinged rapidly as a sea of red formed, threatening to swallow her yellow indicator whole.

The smoke of combat shifted, swirling around invisible figures that loomed in the darkness. The swells began gravitating closer, flickers of shape and form breaching the lucidity like a stone in calm waters. They were coming in for the kill.

Three rounds, in quick succession ended the life of one cloaked beast. Its shields flickered then dissolved as the last round blew out the back of its skull in a blue-violet wash of liquid. A second hurdled itself over the body of its fallen brethren toward the Spartan, attempting to bring its firearm down as an improvised bat. Six dodged between the beasts legs then stood and pivoted just in time for her attacker to face her, only to have the barrel of her DMR find its way into its throat. Again a wash of blood became a fine mist and mottled the dried, cracked dirt.

More bogies bobbed and weaved around her. One opened fire, a spray of rapid plasma pistol fire depleting her shields. Another cluster of plasma rounds chipped away the last fragment of shielding protecting her and instantly it began to dig into her already pock-marked armor. Her side burned and she grunted to fight back the pain.

Rounds splashed against her visor, the convex surface cracking in two places as scorch marks blurred her vision. She lost her ammo indicator and motion tracker, effectively blind. Another shot to the back of her helmet knocked out the health and shielding status bars, but she didn't need either. It didnt take a genious to realise the knifing pain in her side was a broken rib, or three.

Immediatly the Spartan dove into a collection of small boulders, heart pounding in her chest. Lifting her DMR, she read the ammo readout- just 4 rounds left, and her ammo case was empty. She saw the flash of yellow as her shields replenished themselves, and a few seconds later they were maxed. Then she spotted the corpse of a dead Echo-team Spartan, an AR and a few stray clips littering the direct vicinity. Arming herself with her magnum, she engaged her MJLONIR's inertial amplifiers and made a mad dash for the weapon, snatching it with all the precision of an eagle before doing a swift turn and letting loose a spray of rounds at the pursuing Grunts and Elites. Several fell, but not before another volley of Plasma fire ripped through her already weakened sheilding. Her armor couldn't keep up with the energy demands.

There had been a small glimmer in her mind, a faint shard of fear that manifested itself as cowardice. She could have commited suicide and deprived these fiends the satisfaction of killing her, but she'd be a hero no more- only regarded as a coward in the eyes of her enemies. Instead she held onto the resolve of living and fired both the AR and Magnum until their barrels burned hot and ammo depleted.

"Shit.." Six hissed under her breath. Her shields weren't recharging and that would prove fatal. More plasma fire, green and vivid streaks tearing the air with its immense heat, pitted her armor and tore at her under armor. Her sides ached. She was up the creek without a paddle.

"Well, its been fun. Sorry guys." She thought of Noble, of Beta, of Ambrose, or Training- Of Kat.

The wind seemed to take the words and carry them into the void as a breeze kicked up and stirred the swirling abysmal smoke. A dozen, two dozen- four dozen- More than a hundred enemies littered the fields around her, stepping over the bodies of their fallen comrades. She reached up, grabbing for her helmet before tossing it aside. It was useless now anyways. As it clattered against the ground, she slid a Magnum clip from its storage and rammed it into the handle after dropping the empty magazine.

One Elite dared to approach her from the front, weapon at the ready but it quickly fell to a lethally accurate spray of automatic gunfire. With a defiant scream it tumbled, violet staining its once glistening white armor. She turned, a second quickly advancing. It too felt the painful sting of lead as its shields were shredded, its flesh torn asunder. She emptied a single round of her magnum into the creature's head, ensuring its death.

More plasma erupted at her right, burning through her armor. She felt her mind reel from the pain, a second steam of burning blue-white energy splattering against her. She fired both weapons now, Magnum downing an Elite with one hand while her AR made short work of yet another. The bodies were beggining to pile up while her ammo supply dwindled once more. Just as she reached for the ammo she had collected just moments before, the side of her head ached as somthing impacted hard.

It took a moment for her eyes to refocus, and upon doing so she glanced up to stare a quad-lipped fiend in the eyes. She had been pinned to the ground by her attacker and it bellowed a defiant roar, brandishing its gauntlet mounted Energy blade to make a swing. With all the energy Six could muster focused in her leg, she threw the beast away and attempted to roll and stand. She rolled just in time, yet another armored Elite striking from her right. Its blade sunk into the dirt, leaving a smoldering black hole where she had just been. It pulled the blade from the dirt, and she kicked its wrist, sending the blade flying.

Its red armor shined like a sea of blood in Reach' vivid celestial light, and for that instant time seemed to slow. Even with all her enhancements, all her improvements- Nothing prepared her for the power this particular creature wielded. Six watched in horror as its gauntlet flared to life, a long thin blue-violet blade erupting and sparking in its threatening hissing manner.

Then it began to bring its arm down, mandibles splayed wide as it roared.

She closed her eyes, awaiting the final blow.

Had she been killed? She hadn't felt a thing. She couldn't open her eyes, she felt terrified. Something splashed against her- it felt warm as it rolled down her cheeks.

Finally Six opened her eyes, the day looking more vivid than ever. What she saw suprised her.

The beast was perched overhead, its blade mere inches from her neck and a lengthy carbon-steel blade plunged deep through its throat. Then like a lumbering giant it toppled off to the side, its attacker standing tall infront of her. She squinted, trying to make out the shape. Then she noticed that all around her the Covenant forces had been slain, the ground painted a myriad of colors.

"Never thought I'd have to save your ass." That voice, so familiar and plain as day. It rung through her head like bells in crisp morning air. Six looked at the speaker quizically. "What, you don't even recognise me?"

"..Kat..?" Six croaked, swallowing to clear her throat. She coughed and tasted iron and copper. Not good.

"Who else would it be, Santa Claus?" Kat held out a hand, offering it to Six who took it hesitantly.

"You're-"

"Alive? Looks like it."

"But how..?" Six whispered as Kat helped her to her feet. She felt her eyes burn and the corners grew wet.

"Don't get all soft on me now Spartan." Kat seemed to laugh like it never happened.

"Am I dead?" Six felt very confused.

For that moment, Kat nearly bust a gut. "Hell no. But you would have been if I hadn't showed up to save your ass." She helped Six over to a small rock where they sat and she coughed once more. "And to answer your earlier question, I honestly don't know how I'm alive." Six noticed she was sporting a different helmet, an old EVA painted a dismal grey. Its gold visor looked regal against her sky-blue armor. Dried blood clung to a few crevices- A scavagened helmet obviously.

Six' hands shook and slowly she reached to lift the helmet off of Kat's head. Kat was always beautiful to Six, the latest scar did little to subtract from that appeal. A half-healed circular wound centered itself on her forehead, much like a beauty mark of some foreign beauty. Six felt compulsed to run her finger over it, but hesitated.

"I can only guess that by some miracle, the-... what did they shoot me with exactly?" Kat raised an eyebrow. Six frowned.

"A needle rifle, I think. I don't remember much of that day. Was too busy.." She trailed, not wanting to admit anything. Witha grunt she clutched at her side.

"If it were any other weapon, I would be dead- for real. Sometimes miracles happen. People get shot and make a full recovery, even though the same shot is normally fatal." Kat searched carefully for the right words, still seeming to not fully understand the situation herself. "All I can guess is whatever it did, it paralyzed me, made me comatose."

"I honestly thought you were dead. We triple checked your vitals. There was so much blood..." Then as if she were there once more, she pictured the crimson ether drooling from between her fingers. Six' lower lip quivered and she swallowed down the taste of copper and iron. That rib was really starting to aggrevate her.

"It doesn't matter now. What does matter is getting you some medical attention. C'mon, I've got a medkit and some Bio-foam in the Warthog." Kat helped the other up after re-equiping her helmet, helping Six limp along. Sometime during all the fighting, Six had broken her ankle as well and the appendage bent off in a sickly inward direction.

"Warthog..?" Six glanced lazily up at Kat.

"How do you think I got here? I'm just lucky the tracking beacon in your Neural implants was still functional." Kat scanned the battlefield, marevelling at the dozens of corpses. Six really was as hyper lethal as the books said. But even Spartans had their limits. "Where's your helmet?"

"Don't bother.. Its wasted." A glimmer caught her attention, a vivid flash amidst a few tufts of grass. Six bent low to clutch the Magnum, tossed aside when she had been smashed in the head. She held it out for Kat, handle first.

"My Magnum.. I figured you held onto this.. C'mon, Let me help you up." Six was helped into the passenger seat. Afterwards Kat circled and climbed into the driver's seat. A marine clung to the gunner's rig, fingers on the triggers. He watched with amazement as Kat effortlessly lifted the other woman into the seat.

"Lets get you somewhere safe, Spartan." Kat smiled from behind her visor, engaged the Warthogs drive-train and sped down the desolate road leadning as far away from the battlefield as possible.

Six watched the clouds overhead as they drove on. The day seemed new, and she felt reborn despite her injuries. The sky was oddly void of ships, not cruiser or carrier, not phantom or banshee. Not falcon nor Sabre. Reach had fallen and the Covenant had left it to rot.

But Kat was alive.. and she was alive. and the AI was safe. Humanity would live to fight another day.

With that thought, Six let herself drift into a restless sleep, cradled into comfort by the thought of being next to Kat once more.

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_Like? Dislike? what? Let me know in a review. There'll be more of a story here, I promise. not just an excuse to write lesbian spartans *bowchicabowwow*_

_Hope you enjoyed either way._

_Sorry if there's any spelling errors._


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